Founded over 40 years ago, Hemlock Printers has established itself as the most environmentally progressive printing company in Canada. While maintaining focus on quality and core products, Hemlock has set an audacious goal to become the “greenest printer in the world.” By partnering with Offsetters, Hemlock has achieved and maintained carbon neutral status since 2008.

How we helped

Since kicking off its green focus in 2004, Hemlock has tasked itself with setting the international standard for green printing. After completing its first greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory in 2007, Hemlock partnered with Offsetters to completely offset their corporate emissions and became a Carbon Neutral company with Offsetters in 2008.

With a long history of commitment to sustainability, Hemlock decided to take that commitment one step further by launching Zero, Hemlock’s Carbon Neutral Printing Program offered in partnership with Offsetters.

Hemlock’s Zero program allows clients to offset the emissions from their print jobs and render them carbon neutral. We worked closely with Hemlock, using global best practices, to calculate the carbon emissions from every stage of the paper lifecycle (from forest, to mill, to transportation, printing, and disposal/recycling) and what would be required to make it carbon neutral.

We have also worked with Hemlock to train their staff and sales teams to help them better understand the climate impact of carbon emissions, the importance of reducing emissions and offsets.

Results and key learnings

For the sixth year in a row, Hemlock was voted in 2011 as the “Most Environmentally Progressive Printer in Canada,” while continuing to produce high quality products.

Within the first 2 years of the Zero program, Hemlock has printed 465 carbon neutral projects, affecting over 6 million printed pieces and offsetting over 1700 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

Benefits Apart from the industry accolades, Hemlock’s environmental initiatives have been good for business. Their carbon neutral status and “green” reputation have helped them land job contracts over other top competitors in the printing industry.

Hemlock learned from, networked with, and shared practices with other companies in the printing community to broaden the effects of carbon neutral programs. They readily share what has worked for them and where they have found the biggest impacts.

As Richard Kouwenhoven of Hemlock Printers puts it, “Our initiatives definitely are morally based, but very strong business intentions go along with them. Being seen as a leader is a competitive advantage in itself.”